Yeah, I'd love Lydia West too, but Jodie Whittaker under RTD's pen would be truly awesome. Plus, we'd get a really epic exit for her, too!
Russell T. Davies Returns to Doctor Who as New Showrunner
- Thread starter Allyn Gibson
- Start date
Though the bulk of Eccleston's issues were with a specific director, he had his beef with RTD and a couple of other producers (very likely Gardner and Tranter, who RTD is mentioned as bringing back):
I'm not sure if RTD has commented on Eccleston's departure beyond the BBC line. The 2005 series seems to have been under a lot of pressure on all sides so he may have been doing his best but ended up falling out with Chris despite that.
But if Russel can come back then anything is possible. The Doctor Donna.This is all designed to trigger me isn't it ?
I'd be really disappointed if Jo Martin gets relegated to Big Finish but I do feel it's more possible now.
Here is what Christopher Eccelston said most recently about it. He mentions RTD.
I also noticed Chris has deleted all his instagram posts. Maybe he wants to avoid all the questions he's going to get asked about this news in the comments.
I loved RTD's tenure so I'm happy about this.
I don't think it's anything to do with not being able to find anyone for the job, I suspect it's more to do with Chibnall screwing up so bad that the BBC wants someone to run things who they can absolutely trust to steady the ship.
I don't think it's anything to do with not being able to find anyone for the job, I suspect it's more to do with Chibnall screwing up so bad that the BBC wants someone to run things who they can absolutely trust to steady the ship.
Great minds etc (or is it fools seldom differ?)Is there an echo in here?
I have no interest in the baggage of The Doctor's past though maybe it's perfunctory nowadays? Before the RTD announcement I was hoping they'd maybe find a showrunner who was first exposed to Who in 2005 and wasn't interested in making a mark in the lore.
I think this is where the co-production deal comes in. The BBC budget alone isn't enough to sustain a franchise, and the licence fee is set to be squeezed even further under this government.
They've even struggled to produce regular series of the show itself. A co-production can bring in other financial backers.
^There is no way, no way in hell that this isn't exactly that. No mattter what RTD thinks about this era, it does seem like the BBC is not exactly thrilled about the way Chibnall is steering the ship, let's say.
Maybe if Gold comes back we can finally get that season 10 soundtrack album.
Ideally, we'd get some kind of "new Moffat," a writer who turns in what's generally recognized as the top episode (or two-parter) of every season, and has enough experience with TV to be the logical and obvious choice for the successor to RTD's Grover Cleveland era.
Though I also wouldn't mind old Moffat dropping in from time to time over the next few seasons, like the old days. I did prefer his run to RTD's, but it looks like my early guess has borne out that RTD and Moffat's runs would feel much more like on big consistent era once we had Chibnall's to compare it with.
So here's something I somehow never heard about until just now. Back in February of this year T'nia Miller ('Years & Years', 'The Haunting of Bly Manor'. 'Foundation' etc.) revealed on Cameo that she knew who the next Doctor is, that's it's a woman and someone they've worked with.
And given RTD's habit of casting people in multiple things I'm guessing it's Lydia West.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9519090/?ref_=tt_cl_t_9
And given RTD's habit of casting people in multiple things I'm guessing it's Lydia West.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9519090/?ref_=tt_cl_t_9
And the writers of them will be even more insufferable the moment RTD's shiny new empty era won't have them in it, since said folks are very likely wanting "more of the same". Many couldn't handle Martha when Rose left in season 2, complete with expositiondump saying there's no way to get her back... So comes series 4 and she's back to appease! (Chibnall was not the only sub-part writer for the show and Chibnall did historical-themed stories a lot better, but both have their strengths, and I digress.) Ditto for Tennant and every cookie cutter copy all subsequent incarnations ended up being, save for Capaldi but he comes close to being more of the same quite often as well.
This is unprecedented, but if RTD really manages to do something new and different and better for the show - which we won't know until it's made and shown, but if nothing else he knows how to make the end product look and sound so bombastic that enough viewers will drool no matter what..
Nope. Usually producers who write books claiming they're burnt out tend to go on creating new works and not going back to the old ones. But he feels he can do more for the show. Good luck. Again, I suspect his era's fans will be far more disappointed than anyone else. Maybe he'll get Olly Alexander in since he was hyping the actor up a few months ago. I'd be more not-surprised if he doesn't get the role.
Yeah that's why I thought she was probably the next Doctor even before the RTD news.
Wow! Fantastic news!
They must've dumped a lot of cash on RTD to get him to come back given his previously stated non-interest in repeating his work.
Also, this shows that the BBC want DW around. But it also shows that they have doubts about finding someone new who can successfully move it forward. So, it's back to the past. Finding new showrunners will be an ongoing problem. This buys them some time at least.
It is possible that they wanted DW on the air for its 60th anniversary and then will give it a rest. A one year deal might've been easier for RTD to agree to and the BBC to afford!
They must've dumped a lot of cash on RTD to get him to come back given his previously stated non-interest in repeating his work.
Also, this shows that the BBC want DW around. But it also shows that they have doubts about finding someone new who can successfully move it forward. So, it's back to the past. Finding new showrunners will be an ongoing problem. This buys them some time at least.
It is possible that they wanted DW on the air for its 60th anniversary and then will give it a rest. A one year deal might've been easier for RTD to agree to and the BBC to afford!
Wouldn't surprise me. As with most Doctors being Tennant near-complete copies since he left... What's that old maxim again, about redoing the same thing and expecting better results called? Meh...
Or someone who hadn't seen the show ever, who'd then watch something from all 15 incarnations and then do their own thing and be forward-thinking... (War Doctor and Fugitive Doctor being canon and all, and both had a lot going for them too!) The claim that one has to be a fan is garbage, since the eras ran by people who were fans didn't always put out the best-ever stories, and at one or more points people who weren't fans (or knew the show in any major capacity) kept belting out more classics than clunkers (e.g. seasons made between 1963 and 1978 or so, give or take...)
Good luck. Fans hated it when Rose left so the writer broke his own cry-inducing narrative to bring her back (and nobody cared). The same fans hated it when Tennant left so every subsequent incarnation has enough mannerisms just like his that the jokes about being "cookie cutter" have some merit. Capaldi was the closest to being the most original in all of Modern-WHO... Whitaker was the most cookie cutter of the lot. "More of the same" isn't going to work.
So I suspect high ratings followed by a large drop-off, but being arguably worse than Chibnall's era's ratings drop.
If anything, those saying Chibnall never had a ratings issue are arguably proven wrong thanks to this change of production team... solely circumstantial. Unless the BBC really is that desperate and thinking more of the same will fix the show...
Chibnall's had some good ideas (just poor execution), but he did state 5 years ago he'd be in it for 5 years. Moffat's era was the first to have gaps between seasons as well... they'd also bring back anyone new, not necessarily RTD.
RTD can think of others' eras the same way any viewer can for any era. Some dialogue in his old stories even has some people alleging he's hinting at what he believes. Such as critics of the show when he created the Kult of Skaro and someone took the four Dalek names and put them in a certain order. Quite amusing stuff... Amazing that Chibnall didn't do that, in fact...
Last edited:
No. He's too big a fan of Doctor Who. He loves it too much. He wouldn't return to do that.
I certainly hope you're right. Not just because I don't want the show to end, but I hate the idea of the show ending after (potentially) two female Doctors. We would never hear the end of it from the misogynists, both outside and inside fandom.
Last edited:
